Pigeon Forge – Walden Creek Campground

Pigeon Forge, TN - Walden Creek Campground

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Our ride from Breaks Campground to Pigeon Forge was another one of those “butt hugging” trips, but this time we were pulling the RV. We left early in the morning hoping to beat the coal mine truck traffic. The A’s and B’s parted ways at interstate 81 – they headed to NC and we went to TN. We had a great time traveling with them!

We arrived at Walden Creek Campground around noon. We are right off the main drag at Pigeon Forge. After checking in and setting up we were ready for lunch. The park owner suggested we try Mel’s diner – it was less than a mile down the road. It is a “Rock Around The Clock” diner! (see pic). We were too full to eat desert but knew we would return for their famous 9 scoop banana split.

Tuesday we checked out the outlet malls and the knife shop. On the way back to camp we returned to Mel’s for the banana split. Sorry, I forgot my camera – it was everything they said it would be.

Wednesday I wanted to go to Gatlinburg. It is a wall to wall tourist trap. **** They’re like ants running all over the place! *** I guess I have just out grown that kind of fun. Don’t get me wrong, I’m always ready to go to the mall when there’s a good sale. We drove through town and made a loop back to Pigeon Forge.

Buddy has been plotting our next move to northwest GA – Cloudlands Canyon. He was thinking about going on US 129 – nice scenic route. I found an article about it in one of those “What to Do” books. The article was called, “The Roads That Are Less Traveled” – Tail of the Dragon. The road segment earned its name from its curves resembling the back of the tail of a dragon. An 11-mile stretch of road is said to contain 318 curves. The speed limit was 55 mph prior to 1992; however, in the 1990’s and early 2000’s, the limit was reduced a number of times until 2005 when a speed limit of 30 mph was signed along the entire stretch. Crashing on ‘The Dragon’ earns you the right to hang part of your crash damage on the famous ‘Tree of Shame’ at Deals Gap Motorcycle Resort. Maybe we need to check this out, what do you think?